FT WRAP Wigan played their part, matched Chelsea for long periods, played some neat football. But if you are going to give then opposition a two goal start then it's always going to be a struggle. For Chelsea Hazard was excellent, creating the first goal and fouled for the penalty that brought the second. That was after six minutes. Nothing to get excited about happened after that but Chelsea showed discipline and concentration to see it out. Maybe the title isn't a two horse race, maybe ...

90+3 min: A winning start for Chelsea, a victory that was secured while some people were still finding their seats....

90 min: Wigan continue to pass the ball neatly. Chelsea continue to pick them off eventually. Blow you whistle ref, this game's over.

88 min: Oscar shows a neat touch to work Ivanovic in. His cut back flashes just out of the reach of four Chelsea players as the opportunity to emphatically finish this off passes.

87 min: Luiz uses his head to direct the resulting free kick towards goal. A host of black and yellow shirts waiting to pounce but Al Habsi showed good hands to cling on to it.

86 min: Torres jinks inside Watson to get in to the box. The defender's trailing leg was too tempting not to trip over. Just outside rules the referee.

84 min: Kone offering Wigan hope here and causing panic for Chelsea. The substitute finds half a yard in the six yard box to meet a low cross and flick it goalwards. Cech was well placed to block but as the rebound sat up Gomez was there to ... ah ... to try an outrageous overhead kick and smash it wide. Bah!

83 min: A corner from Wigan finds the golden barnet of Kone but when he needed a flick to help it in he got a full forehead connection and thumped it well wide.

82 min: Change for Chelsea as Mata is replaced by Ramierez.

80 min: Almost some drama. Maybe Cech is bored and wants something to do. He just rolled the ball out to no one, it seemed, though the Wigan boot that sent it back was too heavy to get Gomez away when he would have been one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

78 min: A professional job from Chelsea just slowing the game down to dampen any Wigan enthusiasm. Bodes well for their season but doesn't make for thrill-a-minute viewing.

75 min: Cole plays himself and his team in to trouble but then sticks his head where most wouldn't to make up for his error. Chelsea locking this down a bit now and Wigan frustrated and frustrating going forward.

73 min: Free kick from 30 yards out goes through/under the wall and takes a nasty bounce for Cech to deal with, but deal with it he does, clinging on as attackers rushed in to pick up any pieces the goalkeeper might have spilt.

72 min: Lampard escapes a card after clipping the heels of Gomez in both a dangerous position for Wigan and yards in front of the referee.

70 min: This isn't going to Wigan's day. Wonderful chance for Gomez, finding space int he middle to meet a fizzing cross from the left. When it arrived, though, he appeared to get confused as to which end of the pitch he was at and played a classic defensive clearance when it might have been easier to score.

69 min: First real involvement from Oscar almost makes it 3-0. Torres flicked it on and Oscar showed genuine pace to streak away from Ramis. The low drive aimed at the far post left Al Habsi nowhere but just flashed wide of the upright.

66 min: Wigan make a change that's probably overdue. Kone comes on to a standing ovation, Di Santos walks off to a perfunctory handshake from his boss.

64 min: Hazard is given a well earned sit down after a cracking league debut for Chelsea. On comes Oscar. I think that's what's called a strong bench Chelsea have there.

63 min: Ramis starts making his peace with Wigan fans and team-mates alike. Torres fought to get on to a flick on and turned the ball round the advancing goalkeeper. But with little pace. And Ramis was there to clear off the line. Up to the other end and Terry was required to intervene when a dangerous low cross flashed across the Chelsea six-yeard line. Everyone watching woken up with a jolt.

61 min: Chelsea fans giving it the 'oles' as their team pass it around the middle of the pitch. Wigan seem to have lost their way a bit here. Maloney going off probably contributed to that but they will need to find a bit of endeavour and up the pace a touch if they are to get back in to this match.

58 min: Wonderful, raking pass from Caldwell picks out Di Santo (think a Gerrard Hollywood ball but that actually stayed in play and found its intended target). He had an option in the middle but got his head down and went for goal himself. He really shouldn't have.

55 min: McArthur the latest Wigan player to have his name taken by the referee. A cynical, deliberate kick at the back of Lampard's legs his offence. Boo ... hiss ... down with that sort of thing. Tom Daley wouldn't do that, would he, eh? No he wouldn't.

53 min: Terrific flick and run from Bertrand set him free down the left. A decent looking square ball, too, picked out Lampard but in the time it took him to control it and shuffle it out of his feet Wigan has set themselves to snuff out the danger. The excellent build up deserved a better finish.

52 min: Torres makes an excellent run down the channel and is picked out by Luiz. Played back and finally crossed, via a deflection, to Cole in space. It sat up for him but that isn't an excuse for the hoofed effort that would have been better suited to Wigan Warriors going for two points on this ground.

50 min: Chelsea playing Wigan at their own game - little five yard passes in the middle of the pitch that takes them pretty much nowhere.

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Opta - 7 - Eden Hazard has won more penalties than any other player in the top European leagues since last season. Unstoppable.&lt;/noframe&gt;

48 min: Wigan forced to make a change. Maloney is struggling with a thigh injury and is replaced by Gomez.

47 min: Di Santo at last does something that pleases the home crowd - a clumsy, painful looking foul on Terry. He esacpes a card.

46 min: Early promise for Wigan. A free kick from the left isn't properly cleared by Chelsea and Alcaraz whips it back in from the opposite side. Landed at the feet of Di Santo but he couldn't get it out of his feet and across a busy six yard box.

HT WRAP It was a horror start for Wigan and Ramis and a wonderful one for Chelsea and Hazard. The Belgian was at the heart of both goals, turning Ramis in the centre-circle to play in Ivanovic for the first; being kicked up in the air by Ramis for a penalty that Lampard converted for the second. All inside six minutes.

After that, well, not much. Wigan probably saw more of the ball and had the better of what chances came but a pretty even, steady affair. Chelsea won't mind if that continues. Wigan don't look likely to score twice. But you never know ...

45+2 min: A weak Maloney free-kick brings us to a finish in the first half.

45 min: Genuine chance for Di Santo and it's wasted. Simple diagonal ball set him free down the right. It wasn't a brilliant angle and Cech was out quickly but Di Santo shouldn't have given him the chance to smother it. The shot flicked over to land in front of an open goal but Cech had taken the string out of it and no Wigan player appeared to be in the Chelsea half let alone box.

44 min: Danger for a moment in their own box for Wigan as Chelsea flood the box but Mata's gentle lay off is too gentle and the attack breaks down.

42 min: We're meandering our way towards half time now, Chelsea in no rush to commit men forward, Wigan playing very deliberate, measured possession football as they build attacks. Moses looks the most likely to offer some creativity. He beats Cole, not for the first time, to get a cross away but it was as over cooked as my nan's Sunday roast.

39 min: Hazard pops up on the right and looks to hit the byline. Doesn't manage it this time but Wigan have taken to getting two men across to him whenever possible which is testament to the worry he's causing them.

37 min: Soon-to-be Chelsea player Moses stings the palms of his soon-to-be-team-mate Cech. A fierce effort from a tight angle and a decent enough save from the Chelsea goalkeeper, pushing it away with strong hands with the penalty area very crowded.

35 min: Wigan have edged the possession stats so far, I'm told, with Chelsea having been reduced to just two shots on target in the whole match. All good for the hosts, then, as long as they ignore the numbers at the top of the scoreboard.

34 min: Luiz really getting involved now. A kick up Maloney's back end earns him a yellow card. "It was my first one," he pleads. "No it wasn't," corrects the referee.

33 min: Luiz appears to have become bored and makes a trademark hell for leather surge forward. He played a neat ball in behind the defence for Torres, too, but the Spaniard had wandered offside.

31 min: Figueroa charges down a clearance from Hazard by his own corner flag. Pretty much the first thing the Belgian's done wrong. Though if could have been much worse had it not been for the alertness of Cech.

28 min: Terry looks in spot of pain, pulling a face as if he'd just stubbed his toe on the bed getting up for a trip to the toilet in the middle of the night without putting the lights on. It's either his foot or his ankle. But he's playing on. Of course he's playing on.

26 min: Wigan fans angry that Petr Cech was allowed to reach out of his box to catch a ball while keeping his feet inside. You can have sympathy with them for that. Should have been a free kick and probably a yellow for the goalkeeper but he gets away with it.

24 min: Maloney tires to find a way though the ranked masses of the Chelsea defence on the dribble. He beats two men but falls at the third hurdle. Chelsea break and Hazard shows him how it's done. He's skipping away from which ever Wigan player is unlucky enough to be near him at the time. His break flounders with a lay off sold short but he's well in the mood.

22 min: Chelsea take the sting out of Wigan's mini-revival in this match with a spot of keep ball, back and forwards between the defenders. Eventually Mata gets on the ball high up the pitch and looks ofr a quick low cross to Torres who is lurking in the middle of the box. Al Habsi alive to the danger though and well out to snatch it off the Spaniard's toes.

19 min: Good chance for Di Santo goes begging. Terrific cross from deep from Boyce on the right. Di Santos got between two men and met it eight yards out but he couldn't get over the ball to keep it down and the header went just over. Probably should have done better there.

17 min: Neat turn from Torres gets him on his toes and in to the box. Alcaraz seemed to run across him, and it was in the box. Torres hits the turf but the referee signals he was happy it was shoulder to shoulder. It wasn't, but then Torres had punted the ball on well beyond his own reach anyway and went looking for the foul.

15 min: Maloney's corner comes to nothing but the ball is recycled and another cross is wasted by being swung far too deep. Despite being behind Wigan won't be rushed. There isn't really a plan B here.

12 min: Encouragement for the home fans as Wigan knock it about a bit and create a crossing opportunity. A deflection has Cech scrambling back to execute a difficult catch at his back post under little pressure. Aside from the two goals it has been relatively even so far. But, well, that's a big aside.

10 min: Crunching challenge from Caldwell on Hazard in the middle of the pitch. Crunching being a euphemism for dirty and illegal. A yellow card for the Wigan man, some stud marks to remember the game by for Hazard.

08 min: A spot of possession from Wigan. Figueroa lashes one from 30 yards that is deflected for a throw in. It's not much but it's a start, eh?

06 min GOAL! Wigan 0 Chelsea 2 Straight down the middle from Lampard and a two goal cushion before we've played 10 minutes. And Chelsea really haven't had to do much to get there.

05 min: PENALTY! Ramis, who was the man properly make to look a mug by Hazard in the build up to the goal trips the Belgian in the box and this is a very, very bad start for Wigan.

04 min: It's never that noisy here but a deflated hush has fallen over the home fans after that. After the way they finished last season there was reason for optimism. Not anymore...because...

02 min GOAL! Wigan 0 Chelsea 1 What a start for Hazard and Chelsea. The new boy spins in to space in the middle and plays a perfect ball for Ivanovic to run on to. A surge in to the box and the type of finish Torres would be proud of/grateful for. Too easy.

01 min: John Terry gets an early touch. Wigan fans get an early boo out of their throats. And we're off...

13.27 We are approaching kick off but before we do a quick apology for the wrong match preview notes and stats appearing at the foot of this blog for a while there. I'm not used to the pace of an English blog just yet, takes time for match previews and live blogs to gell ... etc ...and so on. (Head hung in shame as if havign missed an open goal at Old Trafford.)

13.25: Gervase King emails to pose the question on everyone's lips* on this opening weekend

Gary [Neville] looks different today, but can't quite put my finger on it. Has he changed his hair in some way or is it just that he has given up on his attempts at contrived facial hair?

*not actually over anyone else's lips, probably.

13.20 Much debate over Moses playing despite being all but certain to sign for Chelsea in the next two weeks. "He's still a Wigan player," observes Jamie Redknapp, correctly. "He just loves playing football," says Roberto Martinez, which is helpful.

So, Eden Hazard makes his Premier League debut while fellow summer signing Oscar starts from the bench having only arrived in London on Thursday following international duty. Fernando Torres begins as the lone frontman.

Wigan give a debut to defender Ivan Ramis, with striker Arouna Kone among the substitutes, while winger Victor Moses starts against the club who may yet sign him before the transfer window closes at the end of this month.

12.45 It's been fun this last month for sports fans on these shores, no? England's Test series disputing the world No 1 status still hangs in the balance, that big sports day book ended by pop concerts in London seemed to go quite well. Yet, surely, no great British summer of sport can truly be complete until we've all stepped blinking in to the burning sunshine in to the DW Stadium to watch Wigan Athletic lay the early foundation for their late season escape for the mire with a comprehensive defeat to Chelsea.

The wait is over. Today is that day. Football's back in this corner of Lancashire that is forever rugby league.

Chelsea arrive as reigning European champions and having spent the thick end of loads and loads of cash on some pretty impressive new recruits. Eden Hazard, Oscar and Marko Marin all come with big reputations as well as price tags.

Wigan, shop at the other end of the market. Or in a different market further out of town that smells a bit funny and has those dodgy fellas hanging around the corners up to god knows what. But have a canny knack of digging out unknown gems to be flogged on at a profit in a year or two. Ivan Ramis and Arouna Kone should both make their debuts today, having required less noughts to be used in Dave Whelan's chequebook than Roman Abramovich told someone to write in his.

On paper it should be a straightforward win for Chelsea. But this is the start of the season. The teams are level and meet as equals. And it promises a decent game.

We've been here before, of course. A bright summer's day in Wigan. First day of the season. Chelsea arrive having spent big in the summer. Wigan are everyone's pick to go down. That wasn't a bad watch either: